Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials that are freely available for anyone to use, adapt, and share. Unlike traditional copyrighted educational materials, OER are licensed under open licences—such as Creative Commons—that grant explicit permissions for reuse, revision, remixing, and redistribution.

These permissions are often referred to as the 5Rs of OER:

• Retain — the right to make, own, and control copies of the content
• Reuse — the right to use the content in a wide range of ways
• Revise — the right to adapt, adjust, or modify the content
• Remix — the right to combine the content with other material
• Redistribute — the right to share copies of the original or modified content

In simpler terms, OER give you the legal freedom to download, use, adapt, and share educational materials without asking permission or worrying about copyright restrictions.

OER represent a practical application of the open education principles you explored in Section 1. They make education more accessible by eliminating cost barriers, more effective by enabling customisation to student needs, and more equitable by supporting diverse voices and inclusive design.

Why OER Matters

Faculty can engage with OER in different ways depending on their comfort level, available time, and course needs. Some faculty focus primarily on finding and adopting existing OER that fit their teaching goals, while others become more involved in adapting, creating, or significantly modifying open resources. Both approaches offer valuable benefits for teaching practice and student learning, and many faculty find themselves using a combination of strategies as they become more comfortable with OER.

The benefits for you

There are two main ways faculty engage with OER, each offering distinct benefits:

Adopting existing OER:

• Reduce time spent on copyright concerns – use materials without worrying about permissions or fair dealing limitations
• Access current, up-to-date content that can be continuously improved by the educational community
• Customise materials to fit your course – adapt existing resources to match your specific learning objectives
• Eliminate textbook selection pressure – choose materials based on pedagogical fit rather than cost constraints
• Provide flexible access – offer materials in multiple formats without licensing restrictions

Creating or significantly adapting OER:

• Gain complete control over your materials – develop resources that perfectly match your teaching style and course goals
• Enhance your professional reputation – contribute to the global knowledge commons and gain recognition for innovative teaching
• Collaborate with colleagues – build on others’ work and share your innovations with the broader educational community
• Involve students in knowledge creation – design collaborative projects where students contribute to course materials
• Create lasting impact – develop resources that benefit learners beyond your own classroom

The benefits for your students

• Immediate access to all required materials without waiting for financial aid or textbook purchases
• Improved learning through customised content that reflects their experiences, interests, and local contexts
• Development of digital literacy skills through interaction with diverse, multimedia resources
• Opportunities to contribute to knowledge creation rather than just consuming information
• Permanent access to learning materials for future reference and career development

Why Now

The focus on OER has intensified in BC due to specific challenges related to educational materials and content.

The Textbook Affordability Crisis

Traditional textbook costs have created severe barriers for students. Since 2002, textbook costs have nearly doubled, and 26% of BC students choose not to register for a course due to textbook costs, negatively impacting their academic careers (BC Federation of Students, 2024). Over half of the students surveyed in a recent BC research project shared that they chose not to purchase textbooks for at least one course in their program (BCcampus, 2024).

OER directly address this crisis by providing free, high-quality educational materials that eliminate textbook costs entirely, ensuring all students have access to required resources from day one.

Outdated and Inflexible Materials

Traditional textbook publishing cycles mean content can be years out of date by the time it reaches students, particularly problematic in rapidly changing fields. Many faculty report frustration with textbooks that don’t match their course objectives or include relevant local examples.

OER enable real-time updates and customisation, allowing faculty to keep content current and adapt materials to better fit their specific course goals and student demographics.

Need for Inclusive Educational Content

Modern BC classrooms include students with varied backgrounds, learning preferences, and accessibility needs. Traditional textbooks often lack diverse perspectives and may not reflect the experiences of all learners, supporting the province’s commitment to reconciliation and the success of Indigenous learners.

Unlike traditional textbooks, OER can be customised to include diverse perspectives, local examples, Indigenous knowledge, and multiple formats that better serve all students’ learning needs.

Your OER Learning Journey

Throughout this section, you’ll progress through three key areas of OER knowledge and practice:

Understanding OER Fundamentals: You’ll learn what makes resources truly “open,” explore the 5Rs and open licensing, and develop the ability to distinguish OER from other types of educational materials. This foundation will help you make informed decisions about the materials you use and share.

Finding and Evaluating OER: You’ll discover effective strategies for locating relevant, high-quality open resources using key repositories and search tools. You’ll also learn how to assess OER for quality, accessibility, and alignment with your course goals.

Adapting OER for Your Context: You’ll explore how to customise existing OER to better serve your students, including techniques for localisation, accessibility improvements, and collaborative creation with students.

Finally, you’ll bring everything together by reflecting on OER implementation and developing strategies for how you might use and improve open resources in your teaching practice.

Common Concerns and Clarifications

Despite the clear benefits of OER, faculty often have legitimate questions and concerns about integrating them into their teaching practice. This isn’t surprising—the OER landscape can seem overwhelming at first, with thousands of resources available across different platforms and varying levels of quality. Additionally, faculty have professional responsibilities to ensure their students receive high-quality educational materials, and it’s natural to have questions about new approaches to content selection and course design. Let’s address these concerns directly:

“How do I know if OER are good enough quality for my students?”
Many OER undergo rigorous peer review and are created by leading experts in their fields. The key is learning effective evaluation strategies—looking for author credentials, peer reviews, institutional support, and user feedback. Moreover, because OER can be adapted, you can improve the quality issues you identify rather than being stuck with them.

This workbook will teach you specific criteria and strategies for evaluating OER quality and credibility.

 “Won’t it take forever to find and evaluate OER for my courses?”
Like any new skill, finding OER becomes more efficient with practice. Starting with established repositories and using effective search strategies can save significant time. Many instructors find that the initial investment pays off through reduced preparation time in subsequent terms, especially when materials can be customised rather than recreated each semester.

In the sections ahead, you’ll learn time-saving search techniques and discover trusted repositories that make finding relevant OER much faster.

“What if I can’t find OER that match my specific course topics?”
While some disciplines have more OER available than others, the landscape is rapidly expanding. Even partial matches can be valuable—you might find excellent resources for 70% of your course and supplement with other materials. Additionally, OER’s modular nature means you can combine resources from multiple sources or adapt materials from related fields.

This workbook will give you some examples of how to effectively combine and adapt resources to create exactly what you need.

“I’m not tech-savvy enough to adapt or create OER.”
Many OER adaptations require no more technical skill than using word processing software. Tools like Pressbooks, H5P, and even Google Docs make customisation accessible to faculty with basic digital literacy. Additionally, most institutions provide support for faculty interested in OER creation and adaptation.

KPU’s Open Publishing Suite provides training and support for OER creation tools.

OER-washing: Recognising Truly Open Resources

As the demand for affordable educational materials has grown, some publishers and platforms have begun marketing resources as “open” without providing the legal permissions that actually make them OER. Understanding these differences helps you identify genuinely open resources and avoid materials that seem free but lack the flexibility you need for effective teaching. This can happen in several ways:

Free but Not Open: A resource may be available at no cost but lack an open licence that permits adaptation, remixing, or redistribution. These are simply “free resources,” not OER.

Misleading Labels: Resources may be called “open” in marketing materials, but actually have traditional copyright restrictions when you examine the actual licence terms.

Platform Restrictions: Resources may be openly licensed but hosted on platforms that require registration, limit access, or restrict downloading, creating practical barriers to the 5Rs.

To identify genuine OER, look for:

• Clear, open licences (e.g., Creative Commons) that explicitly grant permissions
• Downloadable formats that enable retention and adaptation
• Complete attribution information, including author, licence, and source
• Accessible platforms that don’t require special software or paid accounts

Reflective Activity

Moving Forward

Open Educational Resources represent a practical pathway to more accessible, adaptable, and student-centred education. Understanding the fundamentals of OER—from licensing and the 5Rs to effective search strategies and customisation possibilities—empowers you to make informed decisions about the materials you use and share in your teaching.

The goal isn’t to replace every traditional resource immediately, but to explore how OER can address specific challenges you face and opportunities you want to pursue. Whether you’re looking to eliminate cost barriers for students, customise content to better fit your course objectives, or contribute to the broader educational community, OER provide the legal permissions and practical flexibility to enhance your teaching practice.

As you begin working with OER, remember that this is a supportive and collaborative community. Every adaptation you make, every resource you adopt, and every insight you gain contributes to a growing movement toward more open, accessible, and effective education.

Next, we’ll explore how to centre student agency while creating inclusive and equitable learning environments.

References

ABC Life Literacy Canada. (2024, August 20). How to incorporate Indigenous Ways of Knowing into your teaching. https://abclifeliteracy.ca/news/how-to-incorporate-indigenous-ways-of-knowing-into-your-teaching/

Aikenhead, G., & Elliott, D. (2016). Chapter 5 – Representations of Indigenous science in textbooks, curriculum resources, and government documents. In Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science with Western Science, Book 1. eCampusOntario. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/knowinghome/chapter/chapter-5/

BCcampus. (2019, September 4). $3.26M pledged to OER to enable student savings throughout the province. https://bccampus.ca/2019/09/04/3-26m-pledged-to-oer-to-enable-student-savings-throughout-the-province/

BCcampus. (2024). 2024-25 Impact Report. https://impactreport.bccampus.ca/

BCcampus. (2024). Open education at BCcampus. Annual Review. https://annualreview.bccampus.ca/open-education/

BCcampus. (n.d.). Open textbook stats. BCcampus OpenEd Resources. https://open.bccampus.ca/advocate-for-open-education/open-textbook-stats/

BestColleges. (2023, March 27). Average cost of college textbooks: Full statistics. https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/average-cost-of-college-textbooks-statistics/

Bokhorst-Heng, W. D., & Hillier, C. (Eds.). (2024). Diversity and equity in Canadian schools. Canadian Scholars Press. https://canadianscholars.ca/book/diversity-and-equity-in-canadian-schools/

Coolidge, A. (2016, June 29). The Canada OER Group: Saving students money from coast to coast. BCcampus. https://bccampus.ca/2016/06/29/the-canada-oer-group-saving-students-money-from-coast-to-coast/

Godlewska, A., Moore, J., & Bednasek, C. D. (2019). Securing Indigenous dispossession through education: An analysis of Canadian curricula and textbooks. In The Palgrave Handbook of Race and Ethnic Inequalities in Education (pp. 223-268). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18799-6_8

Pearson Canada. (2024, March 15). Indigenous content. Pearson Canada School. https://www.pearsoncanadaschool.com/indigenous-content.html

Statistics Canada. (2024). Crunching the numbers for postsecondary students this academic year. https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/4489-crunching-numbers-postsecondary-students-academic-year

University of Toronto. (n.d.). Other costs of university. Future Students. https://future.utoronto.ca/finances/fees/other-costs-of-university/

Weber, N., Mitchell, J., & Watson, A. (2024). Weaving stories of strength: Ethically integrating Indigenous content in teacher education and professional development programmes. Teaching and Teacher Education, 139, 104453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104453